ZEN Bitchin'

I read in an interview that Allan Ball (creator of Six Feet Under) first read ‘Dead Until Dark’ at the airport, liked the book so much, found out that it was the first of a series of books (what would came to be called the Sookie Stackhouse novels), and read the series before phoning author Charlaine Harris to discuss the possibility of developing a TV series based on the book(s).

And the rest they say, is TV history. Equally reviled and acclaimed by critics, the series won its lead star (the wonderful Anna Paquin) a couple of best actress awards, one from the Golden Globes.

I saw teasers about it on HBO and Cinemax and I was pleasantly surprised to see it in my friendly neighborhood (pirated) DVD shop. I immediately bought it for an impromptu DVD marathon. I would say that Six Feet Under was much better than this series. However, compared to other non-Alan Ball shows, True Blood is great. There are lots of sex and gore, which made me think it can’t be shown intact on HBO because coming from repressed Singapore, it censors its films (I later learned it will be shown on Cinemax instead, proving my point). But the story is equally horrific, funny, and allegorical–three things I like in my horror/fantasy films. The allegory might be a little obvious (God hates Fangs? C’ mon!) but the whole series was cleverly written and made many surprising turns.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of ‘True Blood’. I heard that the first season was based on the first book. There are 9 in the series, so there. I hope it lasts longer than ‘Carnivale’, another great HBO show that ended prematurely after only just 2 seasons.

Like Alan Ball, I first saw ‘Twilight’ in one of the bookshops in Suvannabhumi Airport in Bangkok. Because I had a long lay-over at the airport, I bought the book and started to read it. However, after about 150 pages, i wasn’t still engaged into the book. So I stopped reading it and got a foot massage instead. I felt the same way when I tried to read a Harry Potter book. For a vampire novel, it was anemic–like a vampire who has not feed for years. And there were 4 in this series of books!

Fast forward to early this year, and the book, like most bestsellers, has been turned into a movie. My hopes for the film rose when I learned that Kristen Stewart would be playing Bella. I loved Kristen in ‘Panic Room’ and ‘Into the Wild’. The guy who was playing the vampire was being hyped as this super-handsome guy, which I didn’t quite buy into. In my opinion, the guy who played Prince Caspian (whose names escapes mo now, sorry) was hotter.

So how was the movie? Well, in keeping with the pun I started in a previous paragraph, the movie simply sucked, and not in a good vampire way at all. For starters, the mythology for me was too convenient. And as the lead, Bella’s character is virtually a damsel in distress who can only be saved by someone who is very strong but very prone to violence. A vampire who hits his girlfriend? That would be interesting! Anything than this chaste, pseudo-brooding mess of a movie. And it was a huge hit! I’m probably not the real target of this movie, having reached a certain age and a certain level of cynicism. FYI, as I am writing this, release dates for the next 2 films have been announced already. (Gasp!)

Just so we’re clear: I abso-fu***ng-lutely love True Blood, and would rather much see Twilight disappear into the night. I especially love the main theme of the show, which I have attached in this post. Hope ya enjoy that song, y’all, as I did. I’m currently reading this book, another bestseller, whose movie version I read somewhere will be released on 2010. So far, it’s living up to the hype. I am so loving this book!